1998 Chevy Malibu gear shift stuck in park

gadgetmom · Posted at Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:47 am

Engine Mechanical problem
1998 Chevy Malibu 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 128000 miles

My 1998 Chevy Malibu gets stuck in park whenever the outside temperature dips below 60*F. The button that needs to be pushed in on the console stick in order to put the car in drive won't budge until the car warms up for about 20 minutes or more...a real waste of gasoline! As I stated earlier, this only happens when the temperature drops below 60*F...during the warm summer months it works just fine. My biggest concern is the safety hazard it causes my kids when they use the car to go to work and they have to sit in the car late at night waiting for it to warm up before they can drive home. I'm really hoping this is something I can take care of myself...I have spent w-a-y too much money on repairs to this car already!! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BMRFIXIT · Posted at Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:28 am

The shift lock control feature was intended to prevent drivers from shifting out of Park with the vehicle running without the brakes applied.
However, if the ignition switch is in the Accessory (ACC) position, it may be possible on some vehicles to move the shift lever out of Park WITHOUT first activating the brake.
The shift lock control system is ONLY active when the ignition switch is in the RUN or ON position.
This means that when the ignition switch is in the RUN or ON position, the shift lever cannot be moved out of the Park position without activating the brake

(in case you have to take off in a quick you can start the engine in N and take off just dont put it back in park ),
check if you have brake light on when stepped on brake paddle if not check and replace brake light switch

gadgetmom · Posted at Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:13 pm

Thank you so much!!! Your suggestion worked and I can't tell you how relieved every member of my family is over this. We have been stumped by this for a long time and have tried a lot of other things and were sure that we would ultimately have to spend hundreds of dollars making yet another repair to this poorly engineered massive disappointment of a car.